10 Payroll and HR Challenges for 2020 & Beyond – Part Three

Employers faced several payroll and human resources regulatory challenges in 2020 and will do so in 2021 and beyond. Business owners and human resources departments need to become informed and plan accordingly each year.

With these key factors in mind, here are the top compliance subject challenges that both employers and HR departments need to aware of and plan for each year.

Employee Privacy

Conducting business in 2020 means employers must be aware, knowledgeable and adhere to any privacy laws or regulations their company must comply with. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect in 2020. It is front and center in the media and it is an act employers need be ready for in the coming year, 2021. Businesses that meet the CCPA criteria thresholds are mandated by the act to supply employees with a privacy policy notice. The Attorney General of the State of California will put out a complete set of guidelines for employers to follow towards the end of 2020.  

Biometrics today are being employed to recognize staff and record worked hours.  The upside of biometrics recorded of an employee cannot be edited, as other ways of identifying employees can be changed like employee identification cards and passwords. With those facts in mind, employers employing biometrics to identify employees and keep track of their time worked need to be knowledgeable about state regulations covering biometrics employee tracking and record keeping.

Health Care Reform. 

The current administration has made several changes to health care regulation. The changes has made have impact several health plans, insurances and reimbursement regulations including, the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Short Term Limited Duration Insurance and Association Health Plans. Other changes made are the elimination of the federal penalty connected to the individual mandate.   

Additional changes include the removal of the federal penalty under the individual mandate. The changes made have initiated states to go to court to control and oversee the health care coverage mandates in their state’s region such as rolling out an individual mandate for their state or by reducing the impact federal rules have in their vicinity. Because of these changes made by states, companies might be able to have updated choices and regulation compliance regarding employees’ health care choices, mostly related to where they reside. However, the options may be convoluted and hard to understand. Employers in 2020 must be sure aware of the most recent federal laws, current administration regulation mandates or initiated changes and any other compliance requirements they must meet regarding insurance and employee rights.  

The major challenges for employers in Payroll and Human Resources in 2020 and beyond are going to expand as our workplaces become more complex and technologically oriented. The best approach to stay in line regarding all these topics and subjects is to review each of them quarterly, check to see if there have been any new changes in the last 90 days and then make changes to your companies policies, rules and regulation compliance strategies where and when necessary.